Railway tie plate



Sept. 28, 1937. WILLARD ET 2,094,335

RAILWAY TIE PLATE Filgd April 29, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Maw W Sept. 28, 1937. G. T. WILLARD El AL I 7 2,094,335

RAILWAY TIE P ATE Filed April 29, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Imfe 1116M Patented Sept. 28, 1937 PATENT OFFICE RAILWAY TIE PLATE George T. Willard, Chicago, and Frederick A. Preston, Lake Forest, 111.

Application April 29, 1935, Serial No. 18,780

c 1 I 6 Claims.

This invention relates to railway tie plates and has-for its object to provide an improved tie plate which can be produced with a substantial saving of metal and which is so formed as to grip the top surface of a cross tie in a manner to resist displacement of the plate in directions both longitudinally and. transversely of the rail.

The tie plates now in general use are usually formed with one or more upstanding shoulders which extend the full width of the plates to provide lateral abutments for the base flanges of the rails. It is also customary to provide the bottom faces of such plates with a series of ribs adapted to be pressed into the fibers of the wooden cross ties. 1 Such plates are not entirely satisfactory in that the length of said abutment shoulders and the other featuresofthe plates do not provide for economical distribution of the metal in the plates and consequently contain more metal than is necessary to provide the required strength and rigidity. Furthermore the cross tie engaging members project abruptly from the bottom bearing surfaces of the plates in the formof distinct ribs which cut into the wood fibers of the cross 25 ties. I I

In some plate constructions the bottomribs are so arranged as to provide closed pockets which, when a plate becomes loose on the tie. so as to move .vertically thereof {function as vacuum cups and suck water and abrasive substances into the space between .the tie andplate. The water being trapp d in said pockets is forced into and. withdrawn from the surface fibers of the tie by the vertical pumping action of the plate, thereby 35 softening the said surface fibers of the tie beneath the plate and exposing -such surface to the elements causing decay I I A specific object of the present invention is to-provide a tie-plate of improved construction 40 which will overcome the above mentioned and. other incidental objections to the tie plates now in general use In thisconnection the invention includes the provision of relatively short abutment shoulders arrangedon the top of the plate 45 near the edges thereof so as to permit the metal which would be required to form the continuous shoulders'of the 'old type of plate, to be rolled into the central portionof the improved plate to form the thickened or cambered upper surface thereof. 50 The present invention also includes the provision of tiegripping surfaces which are so formed asto fprovide relatively wide tie engaging ribs'of gradil'ally. increasing width which compress the wood fiberslofthe tie without cutting them y the said 55 ribs being arranged so as toresist any forces tending to displace the plate in directions longitudinally or transversely of the rail.

the plate. 10

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through a tie plate and rail illustrating the rail and tie plate memher in their operative position on a cross tie.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 2 at right angles to the grooves on the bottom surface of the plate so as to illustrate the approximate full size contour of said grooves and intermediate ribs adapted to take a clutching grip on the top surface of the cross tie.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating a modification; and 1 Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view in perspective of 2 a rolled tie plate bar from which the tie plates are severed.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive of the drawings, l0 designates a' railroad rail, ll one of the improved tie plates made in accordance with this invention, and I2 one of the supporting cross ties. The tie plate illustrated in the above figures, as one embodiment of the invention, is made of rolled metal. The top of the plate II is formed with a rail seat portion I3 which is preferably, though not necessarily, inclined transversely of the line of track so as to support the rail [0 in a slightly tilted position as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The said rail seat iszalso cambered from, edge to edge of the plate in a direction extending longitudinally of the rail, the camber being shown best in Fig. 3. Rail base abutting means, in the form of relatively short ribs or shoulders |4-l5 are formed. on the plate at opposite edges thereof and preferably, though not necessarily, at opposite sides of the rail seat.

- The provision of short abutment shoulders I4-l5 notonly effects a substantial saving of metal but also simplifies the rolling operation of a cambered tie plate in that the distribution of metal is substantially uniform throughout the entire length of the tie plate bar. The uniform distribution of metal is made practicable by the arrangement of the shoulders wb on the bar so that the shearing line ll of the plates will pass through the center of said shoulders and at points intermediate the cambered upper surfaces l3 of the bar. With such arrangement of the shoulders on the bar the metal which would be normally required to form a continuous shoulder may be rolled into those portions of the oar which form the central or cambered portions of the tie plates. The shoulders a-b are formed in part by the displacement of metal adjacent the shearing line H of the bar which portions, by reason of the rolled cambered surfaces, are somewhat thinner than the central portions of the cambers. This arrangement so distributes the metal in the bar that the cross sectional area through the bar at any location, except on a line passing through the depressions 22 in the top surface, will correspond substantially to the cross sectional area at any other location on the bar. The apertures l8 and I9 are punched in the plates at suitable locations to receive the fastening devices 20 and 2|. The apertures designated by the reference numeral l8 are preferably punched in the plate at the inner end of the shoulders at and b and in alignment therewith so that the said shoulders will protect the shank portion of the securing device 20 from excessive wear. In the embodiment shown, the apertures l8 are so located on the plate that the punching operation will remove the curved extremities c of the ribs a and b of the rolled metal bar shown in Fig. 7.

In order to effect a saving of metal, the top portion of the plate which underlies the base portion of the rail may be and preferably is formed with a plurality of parallel recesses 22. The said recesses stop short of the shoulders l4l5 so that the bearing surfaces 23 and 24 for the marginal portions of the rail base will extend entirely across the plate. The ribs 25 intervening between the several recesses 22 provide adequate supporting surfaces for the central portion of the rail base. The top surfaces of the said ribs 25 are formed with the curved surface corresponding to the camber of the rail seat as a whole.

The bottom surface of the plate is formed with a series of parallel grooves 26 which extend diagonally across the plate from one edge to another. The said grooves are relatively wide and shallow and are of arch form in cross section so that the metal intervening between adjacent grooves provide relatively low ribs 21 adapted to be pressed into the top surface 28 of the cross tie I2. The said ribs are preferably of uniform height throughout their length and gradually increased in width to the vertical centers of the adjacent grooves as indicated at d in Fig. 5 of the drawings. With such construction the entire area of the bottom face of the plate constitutes a tie clutching surface. The said ribs 2! being of greater Width than their height, will compress the Wood fibers of the cross tie without cutting them when the ribbed bottom surface of the plate is pressed into the top surface of the cross tie. The said ribs, by their diagonal arrangement, will prevent the plate from being displaced on the tie in directions either laterally or longitudinally of the rail by the thrusts and pressures encountered in service. The ribs 21 also serve as reinforcing beams which extend from edge to edge of the plate. The said ribs being disposed diagonally across the plate traverse the recessed portion of the top surface of the plate and thereby make it practicable to recess the said top surface of the plate without sacrificing the strength and rigidity required of railway tie plates.

The modified construction shown in Fig. 6 may be and preferably is identical with the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive except that the ribs designated by the reference character 30, instead of being rounded as shown in Fig. 5, are formed with relatively wide bearing surfaces 3| and angular side walls 32. The ribs 30, like the ribs 21 of the previous embodiment, are of substantially greater width than their height so as to avoid any sharp cutting or piercing action on the top surface of the cross tie. The other portions of the modified embodiment, being of construction corresponding to the previous embodiment, are given the same reference characters.

We claim:

1. A railway tie plate of rolled metal provided on its top surface with a rail seat portion which is cambered from edge to edge of the plate, a pair of aligned but spaced apart ribs formed'on the plate at either side of the rail seat to provide abutment shoulders for opposite edges of the rail base, the said ribs being formed relatively short and disposed adjacent the edges of the plate with a clear space between them whereby the distribution of metal is such that the cross-sectional area of each edge of the plate which extends transversely of said abutments corresponds substantially to the cross-sectional area taken on a parallel line through the central portion of the plate of greatest thickness.

2. A railway tie' plate of rolled metal, the top surface of which is curved from edge to edge thereof so that the central portion of the plate is thicker than the said edge portions and formed with means providing a lateral abutment for an edge portion of a rail base, the said abutment means comprising spaced apart shoulders formed at the said edge portions of the plate, whereby the shoulders may be formed in part by the displacement of metal at the said thinner edge portions of the plate.

3. A railway tie plate of rolled metal, the top surface of which is curved from edge to edge thereof so that the central portion of the plate is thicker than the said edge portions and formed with means providing a lateral abutment for an edge portion of a rail base, the said abutment means comprising spaced apart shoulders formed at the said edge portions of the plate, whereby the thicker central portion of the plate may be formed by displacement of the metal intermediate the adjacent ends of said shoulders.

4. A railway tie plate of rolled metal, the top surface of which is curved from edge to edge thereof so that the central portion of the plate is thicker than the said edge portions and. formed with means providing lateral abutments for a rail base, the said abutment means comprising spaced apart shoulders formed at the said edge portions of the plate, whereby the shoulders may be formed in part by the displacement of metal at the said thinner edge portion of the plate and whereby the thicker central portion of the plate may be formed by displacement of the metal intermediate the adjacent ends of said shoulders.

5. The method of producing rolled metal tie plates having cambered rail seats and rail base abutment shoulders at opposite sides of said seat which consists in rolling a tie plate bar with a series of rail bearing seats thereon cambered longitudinally of the bar and a series of rail base abutting shoulders disposed at adjacent ends of said cambered surfaces, whereby the cross-sectional area transversely of the bar will be substantially uniform throughout the length of the bar, then severing the plates from the bar on lines passing through said shoulders to provide each plate with short shoulders at opposite edges of the plate.

6. A railway tie plate of rolled metal formed on its top surface with a pair of relatively short spaced apart ribs providing lateral abutments for one edge of a rail base and formed on its bottom surface with a series of relatively wide but shallow arch-shaped grooves which are open at their ends and extend from edge to edge of the which extends transversely of the abutment ribs corresponds substantially tothe cross-sectional area taken on a line parallel to said edge and extending through the center portion of the plate. 10

GEORGE T. WILLARD. FREDERICK A. PRESTON. 

